How to Make a Catchy Advertising Jingle That is Too Good to Ignore

Jingles play an important role in endorsing a product. They linger in the buyers' minds, thereby luring and convincing them to buy that product. We have mentioned some tips that will help you make a catchy jingle.

Neha B Deshpande

Last Updated: Oct 06, 2017

Charlie Harper, who was the leading protagonist in Two and a Half Men, is a jingle maker. He's famous for his jingle of Maple Loops.

An effective jingle is one of the best advertising strategies. Catchy lines that have a peppy tune are easily remembered. People hum these tunes, share them with each other, and in some time, these tunes go viral and become popular with the masses, leading to word-of-mouth publicity of the product(s) they are made for. Thus, a catchy jingle helps build a good customer base.

Due to elements such as rhyme, melody, a set pattern of words, or repeating phrases, a jingle is easily remembered. Didn't we give tunes to plain sentences in order to be able to recall them easily during exams? That's the method some of us used to mug up answers, didn't we? The same principle applies to jingles. It is about giving a good tune to lyrical words, such that they become easy to remember. Obviously, having catchy and impactive words does help a lot.

As a jingle maker, you should be aware of this and have a basic sense of rhythm. You should be able to write well to come up with good words that can go together, be given a tune to, and best describe the product/service that the jingle is about. Making catchy jingles is indeed a smart way of advertising your product. And if your jingle has got that punch, you'll be surprised to know that people love to hum it.

Tips to Make a Catchy Jingle

Understand Your Product

Know what you have to sell, its history, brand evolution, peculiarities of the brand, its uniqueness, and how it stands out. Stressing on words that will appeal to the masses is important. It boils down to your skills at song-writing and music. The same applies to making jingles for a service-based company. Understand what the company has to offer, what their business is, and what they specialize in. Build around something unique or special about the product or service.

Use the Right Words

As your first step, enlist adjectives that best describe the product. Identify the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the product. You must tell the buyer why he should buy that product. If you give a personal touch to the words, chances are high that the masses will connect with your idea. Use words that will make an impact on the consumers and tell them about the product or service and what makes it different from the others in competition. End the jingle on a positive note.

Keep it Simple

The lyrics as well as the tune should be simple, so that it is easy to remember and hum. Choose words that are easy to understand. Going totally offbeat or using flowery words or jargon will not help, as they will make the jingle difficult to recite/sing. Strike a balance between being too creative and too simplistic.

Make it Easy to Sing

Use repetition of words. Use rhyme. This makes it easier for people to hum the jingle. The words should be such that it's easy to recollect and recite the jingle. Also, the tune should be easy to recall. Great if it's so impactive that people find it difficult to get it out of their heads.

Use Figures of Speech

Experiment with hyperbole (to exaggerate your idea to a small extent) and puns (to add a fun element). Use repetition to create an impact. Use similes for comparison. Try to make it different.

Consider the Competitors

Find the product's competitors, study their advertising strategies, look at the jingles or slogans they use. Ensure that your jingle does not sound similar to theirs. Your jingle should not remind them of a product or service you do not intend to advertise. See that your jingle doesn't confuse the buyer, or it might result in an increase in the sales of your competitors' products. You don't want that.

Incorporate the Brand's Name

Make clever use of the product's name, where possible. If the name is too long or if it does not fit well in the set rhythm or tune, use words that will remind people of the brand.

Tips to Choose Music

Choose the appropriate music and tempo, so that the jingle can be sung.

It should not be too long, for which the point has to be made crisply and quickly. A 30-second jingle should be enough.

If the company requires you to use the tune of an already existing song, be absolutely sure of the legal repercussions.

With 'Mop-Aid' as your gun,Dirt is on the run.And cleaning is all fun!

For a Bug Spray 'Kill-Bug'

Bugs Bugging you?Stop them!Bug your bugs,With 'Kill-Bug'

* The above-mentioned examples are of hypothetical products, and any resemblance with actual product names is a mere co-incidence.

Catchiest Jingles of All Time and Things to Learn from Them

Kit Kat

gimme a breakgimme a breakbreak me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar

This one is really ingenious for using the USP of Kit Kat - a chocolate bar that you can break off easily, and making it synonymous with taking a break from your routine.

Fanta

Want a Fanta? Don't you want a, want a Fanta?

This one has a clever use of phonetics of the product name. Fanta makes a fantastic entry in your minds. Simple yet effective, they've made a good use of repetition and rhyming words.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Get a bucket of chicken, have a barrel of fun.

The jingle reminds people of the bucket in which the food is served and makes having KFC chicken synonymous with having loads of fun. The rhyme makes the jingle easy to remember.

Wrigley's Doublemint Gum

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

It's very simple. It endorses the product name and also equates it with pleasure and fun.

McDonalds

I'm Lovin' it

They've used the slogan line in the jingle. It's short and crisp, and makes a strong point. You know you love it. And they know it too.

Coke

I'd like to Buy the World a Coke

This one is a cleverly made jingle, which won praise from many. Its emotional quotient of inducing you to make the world come together with a bottle of coke, is certainly appealing.

A catchy jingle needs to be backed by a good media coverage, so that it reaches the masses. The good thing about jingles is that television, radio, or the Internet can be used to make them popular. Jingles stay with the product forever, sometimes, even after its production has stopped. If a jingle is really good, it jingles forever in our minds. Some jingles become more popular than even the most popular songs, and linger in our hearts for years.